Anthem of Creation
by Acheron9548
Summary: A story based on Bioware's "Anthem". Join Ash, Silver, and Dragon as they venture into the wild.
1. Chapter 1

Anthem of Creation

"Recruit, what do you think you are doing?"

Ash wiped the sweat off his forehead, his attention momentarily ripped away from the Storm Javelin he and Silver were trying to fix. Silver groaned as the "Sergeant of Tarsis" stomped over with a very unhappy look on his face. Ash elbowed his friend as subtly as possible as he turned to face Sentinel Jorge. The large Javelin that approached him could have resembled a Ranger type, but with armor that was silver with the faintest sky blue lining all around. The face plate had seemed to be permanently removed with even more metal been peeled back showing a gruff face that appeared to be in his late forties, the extra peripheral vision seemed to never fail catching a recruit doing something he wasn't supposed to do. Like what he and Silver were trying to mess with. Ash dropped his Cosmo -wrench, a highly advanced wrench that shifted itself automatically to fit whatever bolt up to a few inches.

Silver cursed as he saw the wrench fall and with his free hand, as the other was wrist deep in the circuitry of his Javelin, tried to catch the equipment as it fell. His fingers brushed the edge of it and the wrench tumbled, letting out a loud CLANG as it hit the ground. He sighed at the noise, removing his hand as he faced the Sentinel instructor with his partner.

"Sir, this recruit felt there was a better way to reroute some of the power of the reactor to strengthen the shields, making it more viable in combat." Ash knew this wasn't the best answer to give to the now purple in the face instructor, but he was no liar. He was not at all surprised by the anger that seemed to radiate off instructor Jorge as he stopped in front of Ash, Silver, and the partially deconstructed Storm.

"Oh? Is that so?", the instructor asked. "Recruit, are you part of the Javelin research and Development team?"

Ash grimaced, knowing all too well where this was going. "Sir, no sir."

Instructor Jorge cocked his head slightly, his deceptively calm voice not at all portraying the rage evident in his face. "Oh? Then you must be a part of the Mechanic squad, fully registered and able to take apart Javelins and putting them back together in such a way to make them not one hundred, but two hundred percent combat ready?"

Again. "Sir, no sir."

Instructor Jorge turned his head just slightly to eye Silver, who shook his head in response to the unasked question.

"Hm. Then I will ask one more time, and this time, I want a far better answer than what you recruits have been giving me. What. Are. You. DOING." Each word was punctuated by his voice getting louder and louder, drawing the attention in the other recruits who looked upon the two individuals with a look of pity on their faces. All of them have felt the wrath of the instructor over the past few weeks, and had no desire to draw attention to themselves.

Ash shifted on his feet a little, nervous energy hardly holding him in one place. He gave a glance over to Silver, who's idea this originally was, hoping he'd step up to take the brunt of it this time.

Silver caught the look, and gave a silent sigh. He stepped forward. "Instructor, this recruit was doing as you instructed. We complete the basic patch to the inner manifold to allow the javelin basic mobility functions." He paused as he watched the instructor's face, who's only indication for him to continue was an eyebrow that shot up. Silver continued. "Recruit Ash was reminding this recruit that various forms of javelins have different ranges of mobility, the Interceptor class coming to mind. This recruit felt that, while mobility is important, there should be a way to also activate emergency shielding to a Storm class Javelin to compensate for the lack of mobility. This recruit asked recruit Ash to assist in finding a way to reroute partial power from the reactor to specific sections of the suit to allow minimal but functional power to assist in dire situations."

Instructor Jorge eyed the young recruits before him. He had been tasked to help train many classes of Javelin pilots and Operators over the years. Many would join various ranks of the Sentinels, helping maintain the walls of Tarsis and various outposts they have tried setting up. Some would help out with various groups like the Mechanic Corp and the Javelin R&D. But for the free spirited and brave pilots, they would become Freelancers. A group that went out side of the walls braving what comes from beyond, this group held individuals that had to be quick, intelligent, resourceful, and most importantly, lucky. Life beyond the walls were rough. Deadly. And not every Freelancer came back from a mission. This class that he was training had some of the highest potential for Freelancer and Operator recruits. Including the two in front of him. While he wore a mask of fury, he had some pride that this class had been paying at least some attention to Sentinel Marek's lessons. Most classes he trained hardly thought outside the box with the few exceptions being those Freelancer recruits. This class had so much potential, that there had been many times they banded together to question mechanics, physics and history coming up with plans and strategies that, while lacking finesse, held some weight in the upper echelons in charge of creating such plans.

Yes. This group had potential. Ash and Silver attempting to reroute power to other systems was not a new thing. Groups in R&D had been trying to work on similar problems like that for months now after a recruit initially pointed this out. Normally, Jorge would dismiss the recruits efforts and scold them for being off task, but the way Silver described the idea to him gave him pause.

"And since you thought so hard about this," the Instructor growled while watching the recruits faces with some interest, "I am sure you could explain to me how to get flow to go through the suit in dire situations without the reactor pouring too much power through the suit causing either a malfunction or worse, a meltdown?" Silver shifted slightly. "Permission for this recruit to move in order to show the Instructor basic blueprints, sir?"

The Instructor paused a moment, then partially dropped the irritated look on his face. He was too interested in the idea and he knew when not to shut down a recruits idea, even if it was flawed. Such quick thinking questions and ideas are key to survive outside the walls, and there were to many potential Freelancers in the room to shut down such ways of thinking so quickly. He nodded his approval and glanced over to the R&D specialist in the room, Micheal to come take a look at the plans. Jorge may be an instructor, but he only knew as much as experience got him. He moved out of the way to have Micheal move to where Silver stood in order to look at his work. He watched intently as the two spoke, Ash awkwardly standing at attention next to the pair, staring straight ahead. Jorge motioned for the young man to step forward. Ash stepped forward in front of Jorge.

"You disobeyed my orders," he growled. "for that, you get to join Dragon in the Arena for a few hours."

To his credit, Ash did not show much expression, but the Sentinel could see the surprise in his eyes. Most punishments were cleaning duties, not facing virtual enemies in the Arena. What Ash did not know, was that he, Dragon, and Silver was on the Sentinel's list to be recommended as their own Freelancer team. They worked well together and any practice they get in training was less blood that was spilled in the field. For this, extra combat training was needed. He watched Ash march off toward the Arena and turned his attention back to the pair who talked over the blueprints that Silver had whipped out of nowhere. He stepped a bit closer to listen to them talk.

"...able to keep suit powers up? That would stop the suits current of power."

"Not if you create conductors on one or both the arms to use the power of the Anthem through them instead of the reactor's power." Silver countered.

Micheal opened his mouth to disagree with that but then suddenly snapped them shut. Jorge watched Micheal's eyes widen slightly. "You don't mean..." he breathed.

"What do we have here, Micheal?" Jorge growled as he leaned over the blueprints sprawled over the small workstation. His eyes quickly glanced over the blueprints. While his eye was not as practiced in this field, he knew enough and by the reaction of Micheal, could figure out mostly what the idea was. He waited for the R&D specialist to confirm his theory.

Micheal shook his head at Silver then looked up to the Instructor.

"The general idea is to use a mix of elements in order to create a power conductor that can safely portion a bit of power that only opens in times of emergency to power systems such as shields. Normally, having so much power exposed without proper tools could make the reactor melt the armor, but some materials we have worked on show this could in theory work. Our designs are a bit more refined than this, but the theory still stands." Micheal glanced at Silver who waved his hand as acknowledgment of the remark.

"The reason we have yet to implement the idea, is that it would almost completely shut off the power to any of the Storm's abilities over elements. It just simply can't draw enough power. So while we could, most Freelancers feel the drawback in combat is too situational. However, recruit Silver has pointed out we can put in Shaper Relic vents on the arms as conductors. This could effectively, even if theoretically, draw power from the surrounding Shaper relics and environments, and store them as emergency power instead for abilities. More refinements, could make it to where we can use it to only draw it's ability power from the environment."

Instructor Jorge cocked an eyebrow at Micheal. "This could work?"

Micheal shrugged. "I can have my boys look at it if nothing else. Anything we can do to improve the Javelin class will save Freelancer and Sentinel lives."

The Instructor grunted. "Do it. As for you, recruit."As Micheal started picking up the blueprints he turned to glare at Silver who snapped to attention knowing full well retribution for his meandering of the suit and allowing expensive equipment fall to the ground would cost him. "You are to join Ash and Dragon in the Arena. I will be there shortly to speak with you myself. Until then you are to run the Ramparts course until I arrive. Am I clear recruit?"

"Sir, yes sir." Silver responded automatically.

"Dismissed."

Silver saluted, turned around and jogged off towards where Ash left mere minutes ago. Instructor Jorge looked up towards the other recruits that had stopped to watch with interest. When he looked up, every recruit became highly busy in what they currently were doing, trying to avoid detection by the massive Sentinel. Jorge held the glare for a few seconds, then satisfied the recruits were doing what they were told to do, turned to Micheal has he finished organizing the last of the blueprints.

"Let me know if that actually works. When you do, come find me."


	2. Chapter 2

Anthem of Creation Ch. 2

Dragon shook his head at Javelin that was currently being constructed before him. "Aw no. I am not going in that thing."

Silver chuckled as Ash shouted at him from across the room. "What's wrong Dragon?" he teased, "Thought you liked being in tense and dangerous situations?"

Dragon shook his head again, stepping away from the center of the platform that newly created prototype Storm Javelin stood, now finishing it's completion, machinery whirling around putting in the last pieces into place. "Yeah, sure. In MY Javelin. You know, the big Colossus javelin that is NOT a prototype and has ZERO chance of blowing up in my face? This hunk of junk," he gestured towards the Storm that now had technicians checking it's systems and the suit seals for integrity, "is not being worn by me for it's first test run."

Silver, Dragon and Ash were currently in the launch bay. Usually just a storage area for old tools and parts, it was re-purposed as a staging area for the reborn Storm Javelin. Scattered around in the mostly circular room were tons of large crates of varying types and sizes, makeshift chairs, tables and even a few couches, which is where the trio set up shop along with the dozen of Mechanics and R&D Specialists. Silver was at one of the tables, with blueprints spread around, scratching his chin while checking and rechecking numbers and statistics, a dark five'o clock shadow starting to show. Ash was lounging one of the couches stretched across the length of it reading a biography and journal entries of various Interceptor scouts, no doubt trying to glean any kind of knowledge about his chosen Javelin. Dragon was currently walking circles around the Storm, helping some techs check the systems while he complained loudly about the idea of him testing the Javelin out.

Silver looked up at Dragon with a small smile on his face. "Relax. No way would I let you try it out, even if you did lose a bet with me."

Dragon scowled at Silver. In doing so, he missed one of the mechanical arms was hanging a bit low and smacked his head on it with a soft _clunk_ sound. Rubbing his head furiously and cursing loud enough to cause several techs to shift away from him in utter embarrassment, he glared at Silver who seemed to have a smug look on his face. "Oh wipe that look off you face," he snarled as he stepped off the platform and sat down on one of the many metal crates that was scattered around the launch bay. "I still think you cheated. There is no way McCarter should have beat me in that fight. I have beaten him every single time in the ring but somehow the one time you take a bet with me, I lose? Bull. You cheated."

"Or, the more likely scenario," Silver said, "is that you let the fight get to your head and McCarter actually learned how to outfight you."

Dragon snorted. "As if. He ain't smart enough to find his way back to the barracks from a run, never mind fight me and win. Hey Ash," he started looking toward his smaller ginger friend that glanced up at his name being called. "What do you make of all this? Back me up man, Silver totally cheated, right?"

Silver glanced over to Ash, who had put his book down with a sigh, sitting upright. "I am more concerned as what to make of the fact that we, the three of us, are in the launch bay, instead of the testing room we we are supposed to test the new Storm."

Silver had of course wondered this, but put it aside to focus more on helping the techs restructure the prototype suit, implementing Shaper relics on one of the arms in order to channel energy throughout the suit to use it's powers during a crisis while simultaneously keeping a way to siphon off power from the reactor to put up emergency shielding. It did seem a bit odd for the three of them to be stuck together in the creation of the suit even though they were several days from graduation. Dragon seemed to pause as he came to the same realization, when a voice boomed from behind them coming from the large metal lift that acted as an elevator.

"That's because you are dropping together outside the walls to test the Storm Javelin."

Silver and the other two snapped to their feet at the sound of Instructor Jorge. Spinning around, Silver saluted the large javelin covered instructor as he strode forward, with Mechanics transporting both a Colossus and Interceptor Javelin behind him. _Dragon and Ash's Javelins,_ Silver realized as he watched a tech moving the interceptor while four tech's struggled to pull the massive Colossus across the bay. What the Instructor said took a moment to register, but when it did Silver couldn't stop his jaw from dropping. Realizing his mistake he snapped his jaw shut, hoping the Instructor hadn't noticed. To his relief, the Instructor said nothing as his massive Javelin moved in it's heavy slow gait that made many recruits sweat bullets in the past few months.

Instructor Jorge stopped and regarded each of the recruits and without looking behind him, motioned for the techs to stop. The one tech with the Interceptor saw this and stopped, letting the Javelin rest in an upright position. The other techs pulling the Colossus did not see this due to the size of the Javelin and the strain to pull the massive chassis. One of the techs ran straight into the Instructor which ended up tripping the poor tech who went crashing to the floor. The other techs looked up and seeing the raised hand, realized they were supposed to stop, and dug their heels in to stop the massive Javelin. The recruits watched in pity as Instructor Jorge seemed to freeze, and then slowly turn his head with a deadly look that made the tech shake with fear. Slowly, Instructor lowered his arm to gesture for the tech to get up and move out of his way. The poor tech scrambled out of the way to the other side of the Javelin practically hiding behind it as the recruits watching silently chuckled at the tech's misfortune.

The Instructor shook his head clearly aggravated, then walked forward to address the recruits. "At ease," he growled "as you can see, I have brought your Javelins. You have a mission. Test the Storm Javelin in a live fire exercise. I will be joining you on this expedition."

Silver blinked at this. That would explain a bit. What that doesn't explain was as to why they are going outside the walls. Unless… _Oh_. Silver thought with a grimace. Ash however spoke up. "Permission to speak freely Instructor?"

Instructor Jorge gave a small nod to him.

"If it was just a live fire exercise, why not just use the facilities inside the walls. It would provide a far better and safer results, no?"

Instructor Jorge turned his head to the side to look at Silver, studying his face. A quick flash of what appeared to Silver as approval on the Instructor's face before he nodded towards Silver. "Recruit Silver, explain."

Silver took a deep breath and started to explain. "We created the blueprints for a live fire exercise. Because of the strain we need to put the suit under, it is not something we can just simulate. This javelin needs to be out in the field, with the elements, where it can use the power of the Shaper relics to try and use it's power for the Storm abilities. We also need to test would would happen if it came under… intense strain." Ash stared at him for a second. "Which means," he said slowly, "you need to take a few hits to make sure the new javelin can use the shields and powers in a high stress and dire crisis situation."

The trio contemplated the implications of the expedition they will be attending. In the silence, the Instructor motioned to the now very attentive techs, to start moving the two Javelins towards their respective launch pads alongside the Storm. "You have two hours before we begin. Get yourselves ready, check your gear and Javelins, and get set for the combat drop." With that, the Instructor strode out onto the lift, pushing the button to start the ascend. As it did so, he gave one last death glare to the tech that tripped him, and Silver swore he heard a small whimper from the poor man.

The room relaxed as soon as the Instructor left, initiating a flurry of motion as the new techs went over the safety checks on the Interceptor and Colossus Javelins. Dragon ran over to his Javelin nearly knocking over one of the techs with pure excitement showing clearly on his face. "Awwww yeah, finally get to take my baby out for a joy ride!" He grabbed a towel from the pocket of a nearby tech who only had time to shout "Hey!" before Dragon starting scrubbing imaginary grime off one of the shoulder pads humming with glee. Ash started towards his Interceptor and crouched a bit next to it and began to quietly bend and unbend the joints in the arms and legs. A slight scowl showed his disappointment in the small squeaking noise it made, and motioned for a tech that was standing next to a canister of greaser to bring it to him. He pulled out his own rag, and with the tech's help, started to grease down the joints to bring maximum mobility out of the Javelin. Silver, having done as much as he could as far as checking the Javelin's systems, getting the green light from the Javelin, himself, and several techs that had been checking it with him, actually moved the Javelin over to the side using an anti-gravity transport, and broke out a few spray pain cans, and started going to work decorating the custom colors onto his Javelin.

While it had been against the rules to mess with anything on the Javelin's, after they were fitted to their Javelins on the third week, That rule was basically lifted. After all, to the regular city folk, Freelancers were viewed as heroes. And while they may just be suits, individuality was encouraged, as it helped them be distinguished from each other. Such legends as John the Storm, who caused an entire battlefield to run from his lightning barrage, his white with red striped armor a symbol of bravery against the enemy. Or Commander Sears, the blue and gold clad Ranger class Javelin that was responsible for single handedly destroying and Ruin Titan by himself while his squad-mates had been either killed or incapacitated in some form or fashion. Probably the most recent, a Black with gold laced Colossus that went by the name of Lance, who held off a huge Scar attack off of the border of Freemark, one of the other larger cities, for an hour while waiting on the backup of several other Javelins.

Silver gave a small frown as he realized that there weren't too many major Interceptor pilots that are on the front line, let alone celebrated as war heroes. They were not the most powerful, but were the quickest and quietest. They normally were rotated between Recon groups, with some joining Sentinel or Freelancer groups on various expeditions as supports. Silver remembered back in one lesson where Ash and another recruit had asked their Instructor as to why there were few Interceptors on the front lines, despite their ability to assist the Colossus units in CQC encounters. Since the, both the recruits had trained themselves and the other Interceptors more hand to hand combat techniques as well as ways of increasing their speed and viability in combat. One day in the javelin rings, one of the better hand to hand fighters had actually beaten one of the instructors in a Colossus suit. She had absolutely shredded the instructor with little to no difficulty. She used every weakness including the slow Colossus chassis being unable to keep up to her speed and she had whittled the various weak points and joints down to a point where the Javelin refused to move anymore. Instructor Jorge had seen that and while complimenting her skill, stopped the class to show everyone else the importance of knowing the strengths and weaknesses of every Javelin.

The next few hours went fairly quickly as the trio rebuffed, rearmed, and rechecked every piece of equipment they had. Malfunctions got even the good freelancers in the field killed, and Instructor Jorge drilled into all of them to not let that happen if they could help it. Finally they were all suited up, and waiting. Most of the techs now stood to the side watching the Javelins walk up to the bay door with Silver in the front, the paint on his javelin been completely dried and ready for deployment. Dragon and Ash came up from behind with Dragon smashing the Javelins large metal fists with anticipation, and Ash lightly shifting on both both feet, the nervous energy seeming to barely be contained within the Javelin. Silver knew that both were ready to venture out with them. The bay doors started to screech open, and they caught their first view of the lands beyond.


End file.
